Archive for Productivity

Smile Software makes incredible software for the Mac and iOS. TextExpander is one of my most used Applications on the Mac. I also get a lot of use out of PDFpen for the Mac. I was happy to wake up and see that Smile just released PDFpen for the iPad with iCloud and Dropbox sync. I am planning to purchase this app and will be reviewing it on a future episode of ProApps. It’s currently listed at $9.99 in the App Store (an introductory price).

Adobe has brought their EchoSign product for legally binding electronic signatures to the iPad and iPhone. Users will have to sign in to their EchoSign account (pricing options) to use the service. Adobe claims that 3 million businesses are currently using the service (including Google, Facebook, and HP).

Simplenote is one my favorite iOS apps. At its premise, it’s a note taking (in plain text) app that syncs to Simplenote’s server. From there, you can sync it to a wide range of other apps to be able to access them.

As you can see, its a very simple interface. It’s laser focused on being the best (and fastest) way to input and sync plain text files to all of your devices. Simplenote has created a great database of other apps that allow you to edit your text files from your desktop (PC and Mac) and android devices. You can see that list here (http://simplenoteapp.com/downloads/)/ Simplenote also offers a web interface (https://simple-note.appspot.com/) to allow you to edit your notes from the web.

Simplenote, while unbelievably simple, offers some more advanced features such as tagging and sharing of notes. Sharing is probably my favorite feature, though. My wife and I have a shared note titled ‘Grocery list’. During the week, we both will add grocery items we think of and regardless of who goes to the store, the list is always available.

Simplenote is free in the App store (http://simplenoteapp.com/downloads/itunes.html) and it’s a universal app (native on iPhone and iPad). It has ads, but it can be unlocked for a one time purchase of $4.99. They also offer a subscription option of $19.99/year that offers creating notes via email, RSS support, and premium technical support.